100 Mistresses
by Ashurato
Summary: From the one whose name is forbidden to the last who brought about his downfall, these are the stories of Charm Lord's princesses. Even they who are frozen in time have a history.
1. 0: Rei : Absolute Zero

100 Mistresses

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by: Ashurato

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- Rei : Absolute Zero -

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For all his feral charm and boundless power, Orlouge was an utter fool. He was a greedy, petulant child in a grown mystic's body who did not know of moderation. What he stole, he kept long after it had finished serving its purpose. Even now, when my existence has been erased in his mirage of complacency, he still searches for the one who got away.

No one speaks of me for I am no longer supposed to exist. How can I, for I am the single stain on his otherwise flawless rule, the one invisible chink in his impenetrable armor.

Perhaps in the beginning, I may have loved his lonely soul. I certainly pitied him. He was a man still untarnished by the nature of mysticism, confused of his identity. He was a man unsure of his place, yet he bore all the powers of blind fascination and darkest dreams within himself.

I was the only child of a family that dedicated themselves to the protection of the spirit that I could not see. I grew weary of the quiet, unchanging world filled with thankless sacrifices, pain, and endless disappointments. Then, I met Orlouge.

I soon found myself charmed by the possibilities that he promised, but even more, I was utterly fascinated by the purity of his solitary livelihood. And so, I abandoned my lonely shrine and followed him to learn.

He remarked that I was courageous.

I said I was a fool.

He mused that I was charming.

I retorted that his long hair made him look like a woman.

He laughed and said he admired the vigor of my youth.

I told him I would die someday.

"But you don't have to…"

His smile withered. I lifted innocent eyes to his glorious face and that was the last image I saw before I died.

It was swift and painless. I did not cry or scream. It was merely something new. Death was no different from life, only colder and less vibrant in color and sensation. I could sense the dullness of feeling as life left my body, bled out from his sharp fangs fastened firmly against my neck. But even through the vicious infanticide, Orlouge's cold tears fell upon my cheek. He had committed his first sin, borne from a desire for my preservation, but it would not be his last.

And we were no longer alone.

For years, we were the only two beings who existed in that rose-entwined paradise of Chateau Aiguille—a king and his eternally young princess. But even the sun had to set when it was time for the moon to rise.

I had not thought that above all, Orlouge was a Mystic Lord—the personification of humanity's greed, lust, and the darkest shadows within their hearts they dare not even voice into words. With the taste of human blood on his lips and the stain of crimson upon his alabaster hands, he was no longer my pure companion.

He was My Lord and Keeper.

And I, a beautiful doll by his side, could only watch his descent with charmed eyes, a loving smile, and a slowly petrifying heart.

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- End: Absolute Zero-

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Author's Notes:

I have not published a word of Saga Frontier fanfiction since 2003 and I find that mildly surprising. The idea for this story has been with me through the years as I have always wanted to give life to the 100 mistresses barely mentioned in passing during Asellus' storyline, but I never thought that my writing was ever strong enough to carry the theme and the different personalities through.

Now, I believe I will be able to.


	2. 1: Ichiko : Perfect Definition

100 Mistresses

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by: Ashurato

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- Ichiko : Perfect Definition -

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What is perfection? In the way a diamond was perfect?

From my incarnation as a child of the Magic Kingdom, I have always been expected to be without tarnish. Everyone would smile at me because I was a single child while secretly sneering at the twin girls as they played next door. They were allowed to be imperfect, for they were two halves of a perfect soul. One can excel where one faltered… but there were no such accommodations for me.

I was expected to excel, be first in everything. Whether it was the strength of my magic, the extent of my knowledge, or the brilliance of my beauty, I was second to none. I lived my life without knowing the taste of defeat or the weakness of inadequacy. I never questioned the phenomenon, for just like all of the children of the Magic Kingdom, I simply accepted my role.

But then, reality had a way of presenting the truth that shatters one's preconceptions. Only gods were perfect and we are living on borrowed time.

We were true children of Realm Magic—born from magic, forged by magic, and whole sole purpose is to fight and die for the preservation of the very power that gave us life. Those found to be insufficient were either left by the wayside or subjected to an even more bitter fate. The Magic Kingdom did not need two incomplete halves, and twins, tied at a level beyond blood, must live separately to grow strong enough to kill the other. Just like twins next door must destroy one another.

And I envied them from the bottom of my heart.

I was already a Master Magician—tried, true, and without the burden of a twin to serve as a measure of either my growth or my deficiency. I was prized and guided to properly fight the darkness and die with glory. It was a straight-forward purpose, if not an existential one.

Except… when the day came that the twin girls were forcibly torn from each other.

The day when the ephemeral darkness came to me.

Even past the curtain of my tears, I could see that Lord Orlouge was perfection without boundaries. He was newly come into his power and in full adoration of the young Princess Rei, as of then not yet Zero Princess. They were mystics, the complete opposite of Realm Magicians, and yet I found myself impossibly drawn to them. I raised my hand to cast a spell, but not a sound would escape from my lips.

Neither Lord Orlouge nor Princess Rei showed any sign of defending themselves. Lord Orlouge merely looked down to regard the violet-haired child next to him. "Rei, would you like to have another friend?"

Princess Rei's eyes shone with wisdom far beyond her years as they pierced through my soul and arrested my voice further. "I may not be the one most in need of a friend."

I never felt more splendidly imperfect than that moment. After years of living behind magicked walls, the utter visage of my enemy and the whisper of promised death thrilled me to my core. I dropped my hand just as Lord Orlouge extended his. "Please… save them."

"All in due time. You have been solitary for too long. I bid you, come."

Death was the most painful yet most liberating feeling in the world. I became Charm Lord's second princess and I could not have been happier. Until that one fateful moment in time when my paradise was shattered and once again placed me first.

And now, I lay upon my crystal coffin next to one that has lain empty for innumerable scores of years. But even if Lord Orlouge should call, I will remain in my slumber until Princess Rei has returned.

He is My Lord, but she defines who I am.

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- End: Ichiko -

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Author's Notes:

SaGa Frontier does not belong to me, but I will settle for just Ildon.

Ichiko = first child. The significance of why each scenario is as I chose will be a little lost if one doesn't know a little bit of Japanese and way numbers have different ways of being read, so I'll put it in the author's notes section. I will proceed with each scenario in the same fashion as to why Rei is zero (zero = "rei") White Rose is #46 (46 = "shiroku" = white) and Golden Lion is #44 (44 = "shishi" = lion). There are some scenarios that will certainly push the understanding, but they don't really have a word equivalent so I pretty much have to BS a little... I mean, improvise.


	3. 2: Fujin : Windspun

100 Mistresses

by: Ashurato

- Fujin : Windspun -

My name is Fujin, a daughter of the wind.

I was a simple child, satisfied with a simple life before my second life. I would spend countless hours among the windmills and the trees and wondered if there was more to living than such endless peace.

Yorkland was hardly what one would call an exciting region to reside in, for the lands and the infamous swamp were usually enough to keep well-heeled tourists from spending their leisure there. No, most visitors were either there for the Grail Card, the alcohol… or for me.

It was not that I was a rich, young lady who was looking for a suitor. Far from it! My mother and father owned one of the windmills that dotted our town and a medium-sized plot of land were we grew enough to keep ourselves fed. Everyone in Yorkland knew each other and we loved it that way.

But newcomers would take one look at me and freeze like a tree without a breeze. They described me as a diamond in the rough. Then the compliments would start. They likened me to a hawk, unbridled and untamed who flew high over their heads and out of their reach. I mocked their attempts at gallantry and swore never to be captured. I would live as free as the wind.

But life was not so kind and my thirst for freedom was my ultimate downfall.

I had not meant to wander to far that day, but the warm sun and the music of my pipes drew me to distraction. It was night by the time I was able to return home. I had wrinkled my nose as the sharp stench of fresh blood permeated the air. I thought that a hunter had killed his prey. It was a common and necessary job, but not one that I could bring myself to be interested in.

But I could not imagine that it was a warning of the grief to come. As I pushed back the leaves that obscured my path home, I saw the bodies of my beloved mother and father as they bled to their deaths upon the land that they had given life.

My tears came hot and fast like a torrent as two drunken men who I had recognized as rejected suitors ambled out of home. They stomped upon the shattered remains of the gateway of our familial haven. Their hands were still crimson and wet with the blood of my kin. Rage blinded my eyes, but not a sound escaped from my lips as a small, cold hand covered them.

I made to turn around in horror, but a gentle male voice stopped me. "Child, do not stain your soul and forsake your purity. It would break your wings."

My voice was hard as the hand liberated me. "Only those who are stone would not be moved to desire vengeance as I do now."

"Then stone they will become." Before the sentence could be finished, the men were petrified into perfect stone likenesses—their drunken, maddened faces forever replicated in granite. But even from the distance, I could see the grains of dust as they slowly eroded the statues. Scores of years later, these two stones would be nothing more than this dust upon a barren field.

In place of my parents, two melancholy weeping willows stood and swayed in the wind.

I closed my eyes and turned to face my companions, but as I saw the painful beauty of Lord Orlouge and the kindness of young Princess Rei, I would have taken the scissors and clipped my own wings at their word.

"Come."

Even the ever-free must someday succumb to eternal sleep.

- End: Fujin -

Author's Notes:

SaGa Frontier does not belong to me, but I will settle for just Ildon.

Fujin = Wind person. Two = "Fuu" = Wind. I'm rather surprised (and bashfully pleased) that I received reviews for this story! Thank you very much Suu, Demyx55, and Keeper of Fatestones! I didn't think anyone even read Saga Frontier fanfiction anymore. And Keeper, I was actually originally going to use Blue and Rouge as the twins, but because this was back in the past (as Orlouge doesn't even have a harem yet), I had to use a different set of twins.


	4. 3: Miko : Beautiful Child

100 Mistresses

by: Ashurato

- Miko : Beautiful Child -

For all its secrecy, I thought that the darkness was more beautiful than the light. I followed Lord Orlouge because he was beautiful, more so than the brilliant region of Luminous that always blinded by eyes. Far more beautiful than myself.

I was born to the wrong region, to the wrong priesthood, but to the right body. I was meant to be clothed in silk and lace, not cotton and linen. I was meant to be a princess, a queen, not a solitary guide of a labyrinth. The world of men was destined to bow at my feet, but this bearing was hidden by the heavy chains of cursed responsibility.

Thus, there was no guilt on my conscience when My Lord bid me to follow. I abandoned those poor travelers who searched so vainly for the gift. If they obtained it, then it was a testament to their worthiness. If they failed, then they can curse their inadequacies.

But my pride was overshadowed. I was not special. My arrogance was misplaced.

Princess Rei was always at Lord Orlouge's side, a perfect little doll, a bright shadow that stood as his equal rather than trail behind him in obscurity. She did not appear pleased with Lord Orlouge's invitation to me, but she was too deeply held in fascination to voice her misgivings. I loathed her with my whole being.

Lord Orlouge's first princess. She was the most beautiful in his eyes. I pursued beauty and found it, but beauty was already enraptured by another. I knew quite well that Ichiko, Fujin, and I were mere additions to serve as Princess Rei's companions. Lord Orlouge had no love for us.

"You should know by now that mystics are different from humans in more ways than the blood that flows through our veins," said Ichiko as she knelt next to the balcony that Princess Rei sat upon. To my disgust, she gazed upon Princess Rei with equal fascination as she did Lord Orlouge.

"Of course we are more beautiful than mere humans!" I said what I thought she had meant. "We surpass them in every possible way!"

Fujin's voice was soft as she shook her head sadly. Even in mysticism, she was not able to forget the grief that stained her humanity. I pitied her. "It's the contrary, Miko."

I froze where I stood, clothed in silk and lace. Jewels glittered at my throat, my hands, and through my hair. I shed my mortal skin to become a goddess! Mortals are mere slaves and food!

I **am** the personification of beauty!

"You are a fool," said Rei in a scolding tone that was not at all deterred by her childish voice. For all her small stature and young image, she had been a mystic for far longer than any of us. It was easy to imagine her to be a foolish young girl, but the knowing light in her eyes and the weight of her history were undeniably authoritative.

It was not until this light was gone that I realized just how much more inferior I had become.

I had traded a labyrinth full of light for an eternal cage where one can no longer see the majesty of life.

In the darkness, beauty to the blind meant nothing.

- End: Miko -

Author's Notes:

SaGa Frontier does not belong to me, but I will settle for just Ildon.

Miko = Beautiful child/Third child (depending on the kanji used).


	5. 4: Mara : Death Bringer

100 Mistresses

by: Ashurato

- Mara : Death Bringer -

I was cursed to destroy everything I touched. Perhaps it did not start out that way, but in Wakatu, some are simply born under a more unfortunate star than others.

My lover is dead, killed by his lawful wife in a fit of jealousy. My own grief destroyed the poor child that was growing within me, never to open its eyes to see the light.

I could not think. I could not feel. When I regained my bearings, all I could see was a bloody field with twisted bodies whose faces I only faintly recognize. My hands were wet, warm and stained more crimson than the rouge that colored that woman's lips. She lay several feet away, eyes closed in what almost seemed like peaceful sleep, but her heart no longer beat. A dagger was abandoned next to her, as red as the shade on my hands.

On that unholy field in, a mystic found me.

"I thought I sensed a meal, but what do I end up seeing? Corpses and a filthy human. You smell of death."

The mystic wore black clothes of the finest cloth and his long hair, tied with two black ribbons, fell to his waist in a snowy waterfall. He was beautiful; his visage was only slightly marred by the mocking sneer that twisted his mouth and furrowed his brows.

"Are you here to kill me?"

The mystic's sneer faded into a mocking smile as a scythe materialized in his right hand. "I suppose it could be amusing for a few minutes."

I closed my eyes as the shadow of the blade blocked out the dying sun. I have no attachments left in the world. The only thing that filled my thoughts was how death could not possibly be more painful than living.

But as I counted down the long, long seconds, the weapon's unforgiving descent never came. Instead, a started cry that was not my own pierced the surrounding air. Then, all was silent.

When curiosity finally forced my eyes open once again, the white-haired mystic was nowhere to be found. Instead, I saw ivory sleeves that sparked with silver thread. Jewels I had never seen before flashed like fire against the light. When I looked up at the being's face, an assault of heady pleasure filled my veins and forced me to my knees.

My Lord stood before me, resplendent in his power. Princess Rei stood by his side, as fresh and young as the morning, and still deeply held in Fascination. A sob choked my throat as I wrapped my stained hands around my body as if to hide from their sight. I was ashamed that someone like me could remain in the presence of perfection.

"Please stay back."

"Are you afraid of us?" asked Lord Orlouge in a voice that dripped with allure.

I shook my head violently and curled even tigher as Princess Rei extended a hand in my direction. "I don't want to hurt you. If you touch me, you will die."

"Child..." laughed Lord Orlouge in a tone that betrayed his amusement. "We are mystics. We are the only beings in existence who are beyond the suppression of death. Come and you will understand."

With a single word from him, I would have taken my own life. Instead, he bid me to live forever.

In life, I was cursed with death. With my death, I was cursed with eternal life.

Now, I have until the end of time to reflect upon which truly was the lesser of two evils.

- End: Mara -

Author's Notes:

SaGa Frontier does not belong to me, but I will settle for just Ildon.

Four is translated to "shi" in Japanese, which can mean "death". Mara is a Sanskrit name for "death bringer".


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